Several bills have been introduced into the West Virginia Legislature. Interesting about the first one, there is no indication where local governments will receive funding for this initiative. House Bill 4097 ” requiring municipalities to maintainREAD MORE
New York State Addresses Senate’s Report on Code Enforcement
Back in August 2019, we discussed the NYS Senate report that found a systemic failure to prioritize code enforcement at all levels of government. Following up on that report, a series of bills have beenREAD MORE
Productive Use Strategies
Non-Profit Partnerships “One strategy in particular is making a resurgence: the reuse of uninhabited and abandoned properties for low-income affordable homeownership.” This quote comes from a recent article in NPQ (Non-Profit Quarterly). The article discussesREAD MORE
Unintended Consequences?
A recent article discusses amendments to a “VPRO” that now require “owners’ names and contact information be displayed on placards outside houses on the vacant building registry.” This approach, though clearly well intended, brings upREAD MORE
Changing Landscape – House Hacking
Whether it was Zillow or Roofstock, the short-term rental market, the constantly rotation of mortgage servicers, or most recently entities like Fleq and Divvy, the landscape of who owns or who occupies properties in yourREAD MORE
Rental Registry Proves Successful
A recent article in the Dayton Daily News discusses the successes of their rental registry/inspection program. Some of the results include; Rental property violations dropped by more than half, in the past two years. FinesREAD MORE
New York State Cities for Responsible Investment and Strategic Enforcement (Cities RISE) Program
As previously reported, in July 2019 New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced $9 million in grants to address the growing statewide issue of “zombie homes” – vacant or abandoned homes that are notREAD MORE
Dallas Task Force on Safe Communities Report
During the Summer of 2019, following increased gun violence and tragedies that took the lives of children, Mayor Eric Johnson announced the creation of the Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities. The Task Force receivedREAD MORE